Pokemon: Behind the Cartoon
by Metal Mewtwo
Summary: Sure, everybody knows the Pokemon cartoon show....but who really knows what goes on behind the scenes?
1. How It All Began

Narrator: Many of us know that characters of one of the hottest shows on TV today, Pokemon. There's Ash and Misty, Brock, and the ever-present Team Rocket. But few people know what goes on behind the scenes of Pokemon, and today, you'll get your first look, on "Pokemon: Behind the Cartoon".  
  
The story of Pokemon began as an idea of an established TV scriptwriter, Samuel Oak. He had written in the past for several sitcoms, including the popular "Leave it to Snorlax", and "I Love Lickitung", but what Samuel really wanted to do was write a story; a story about a boy and his Pokemon.  
  
Narrator: He pitched the pilot to many networks.... only to be rejected time and time again. Finally, he found one, and the man behind it, Giovanni Valencia. He agreed to go ahead with the series on one condition: he would get a character in the show based on him. And so, that's how Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, was born.  
  
Anyway, back to the point. Tryouts for the main characters (who were not even given names in the script, as Oak liked to name his characters after the real names of their actors) began. Auditions for the lead role brought out thousands of kids. The boy who would eventually be cast was a kid from the nowhere town of Pallet, a boy by the name of Ash Ketchum.  
  
Samuel Oak: Ash was perfect for the part.... it just took some, uh, convincing, on the part of his girlfriend to get it.  
  
Ash's girlfriend, a beginning actress by the name of Misty, urged him to tryout for the part. He did, and was immediately rejected. However, the producers loved Misty, and she was cast as the role of the main character's female companion. Misty, however, wanted Ash for the part of the main character, and when she threatened to quit, the producers caved, on account of they just loved her.  
  
Ash: I was so happy I got the part. I was finally gonna show up all those people in the past who said I was a loser.  
  
Narrator: So, with the main character cast, the rest soon followed. The characters of Brock, Pikachu, Jessie, James, Meowth, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny were found, and production of the show was ready to begin. But the new cast members soon found problem with their star.  
  
Jessie: The twerp? Boy, is that guy ever a loser! He couldn't act if his life depended on it!  
  
James: The kid was always messing up his scenes and his lines. It took him five days just to get down saying, "I choose you!"  
  
Brock: That Ash guy was a nobody right from the start, but thanks to my expert acting abilities, I more than made up for it, and showed him a thing or two along the way.  
  
Samuel Oak: The genius behind Ash was that the kid was such a loser, everyone either loved or hated his antics! And those who hated him always tuned in again and again so they'd have something to complain about!  
  
Narrator: So, as time went on, Ash became a better actor, and the show exploded in popularity. But problems still loomed over the cast, and one of the biggest ones early on was the other star of the show, the electric rodent you either love or hate, Pikachu. We'll explore that when we come back on "Pokemon: Behind the Cartoon". 


	2. Pikachu's Story

Narrator: Pikachu - an adorable, electric mouse who has captured the hearts of millions the past few years. But few people know of the dark side to our little furry friend.  
  
Ash: If you think things behind the scenes with Pikachu are the same as the stuff on screen, you got another thing coming.  
  
Jessie: That Pikachu is a real premadonna. It even makes me look sane.  
  
Narrator: Right from the start, Pikachu was not an easy actor to work with.  
  
Ash: The first time we met, Pikachu shocked me. We're definitely not as good friends as our TV counterparts.  
  
Samuel Oak: Many times, Pikachu would refuse to do scenes it didn't want, and would only come out if its trailer once we changed them.  
  
Meowth: I tried to offer Pikachu a bagel one morning, and instead was given a 10 000-volt shock to the system.  
  
Brock: That Pokemon has a really bad attitude, but what could we do? The kids love him.  
  
Narrator: Pikachu's new found stardom had given it a thirst for more. More airtime. More lines (which is tough to write, since you can only do so much with the word "Pikachu"). More money. More Medabots. More power. (Oops, wrong show.)  
  
Samuel Oak: We noticed Pikachu had become really power-hungry when it demanded it should have advantages over any type of Pokemon. Pikachu crossed the line of sanity when it said it wanted to be the only Pikachu in the world that could electrocute Ground types, and so we caved, which explains half of the plot holes in the story.  
  
Narrator: So the show progressed. But as soon as news of Pikachu's impending god-like abilities were heard, the other actors had heard enough. They went on strike.  
  
Charmander: Char, Char-Charmander! Char, mander-Char! Char!  
  
Meowth (translating): Charmander says that if Pikachu could shock ground types, then it should be allowed to beat water types any time it wants!  
  
Narrator: Pikachu soon saw the errors of its ways. In a formal apology to the cast, Pikachu said it was sorry for the way it acted, and would try to cut down on beating ground types. So with the strike over, production of the show continued. The stage was for the big screen debut of Pokemon. That, up next, on "Pokemon: Behind the Cartoon." 


	3. Movie Troubles

Narrator: Pokemon hit the silver screen with the feature length movie "Mewtwo Strikes Back". But several problems before and during the production almost led to the movie never getting off the ground.  
  
Samuel Oak: It's not easy working with a 6'7", 269 lb. beast who'll blast to into oblivion if given the chance.... and that's if Mewtwo was in a good mood.  
  
Narrator: Getting the world's most powerful Pokemon to star in a movie was not an easy task. Mewtwo saw acting in some film as an insult to his intelligence.  
  
Mewtwo: As if they expected me to go along with their dumb movie for the money they were offering me!  
  
Narrator: Mewtwo demanded to be paid a huge sum of money, more than the producers could afford.  
  
Samuel Oak: It was no use. Mewtwo just wouldn't co-operate. So we had to go with our backup plan.  
  
Lt. Surge: They wanted me to dress up in a Mewtwo costume as play his part, but I couldn't. You ever try standing up on your toes the way Mewtwo does? It killed my feet!  
  
Brock: It was hopeless. It was looking like I would never get to see my beautiful self on the big screen.  
  
Narrator: Then a miracle happened. On his way to Mewtwo's house to concede the money needed to acquire his services (which would have surely killed all hopes of the movie making a profit), Samuel Oak looked in the window and saw something amazing: Mewtwo was attached to a machine which recharges his powers. It turned out he was not as strong as everyone thought. The producers used this to blackmail Mewtwo into the movie.  
  
Mewtwo: I reluctantly agreed to be in the movie.  
  
Narrator: But Mewtwo wasn't the only problem.  
  
Mewtwo: To be perfectly honest.... Mew's kind of a ditz.  
  
Samuel Oak: That Mew wouldn't co-operate with anything. All it wanted to do was play around. Most of the early shots of it in the movie were taken without Mew even knowing. We had to trick it. Of course, when it came to the big fight scene, that's when Mew wanted to get serious. Pokemon....can't work with them, can't work without them.  
  
Narrator: So, with everything set. "Mewtwo Strikes Back" turned out to be a smash at the box office. But more bad things were to come in the TV series. When "Behind the Cartoon" continues, we'll look at the real reason why Brock left the show. 


	4. Bye Bye Brock

(Clip from the episode "Pokeball Peril")  
  
Brock: This ship needs a captain. If I stay here, I'll get to learn more and more about Pokemon every day. And I think these guys may need me more than you guys do.  
  
(End clip)  
  
Narrator: Brock, the Pokemon breeder from Pewter City. In his first year- and-a-half on the show, he created quite a following for himself. But trouble started brewing in the second season.  
  
Nurse Joy: Who'd of thought Brock was really in love with me?  
  
Officer Jenny: And me too!  
  
Narrator: While Brock's character had always been gaga over the two helpful women on the show, in real life, he was in love with them too.  
  
Nurse Joy: When Brock asked me out, I kinda laughed at him and said it was cute. I never meant to hurt his feelings.  
  
Narrator: But Brock's feelings were hurt. He saw his role on the show as a mockery of himself. He could no longer take it. Brock decided to leave the show.  
  
Samuel Oak: At first, I didn't take him serious. Then he just packed up his stuff and left. I had to quickly write him a farewell episode, convince him to do one final show, and that was it. He was gone.  
  
Ash: "Who needs him?" I said. We could do this show just fine without him. Boy was I wrong....  
  
With Brock's acting days over, he could now follow his true dream. And that dream was to be a lounge singer in Las Vegas.  
  
(Clip from one of Brock's Las Vegas shows)  
  
Brock: Jenny, oh Jenny! Joy, oh Joy! A one-woman man's what I wanna be, But there's two perfect girls for me!  
  
(End clip)  
  
Narrator: With Brock out of the picture, the producers knew they would need a replacement for him on the show. When "Pokemon: Behind the Cartoon" continues, we'll take a look at what happened when Tracey Sketchit joined the cast of the show, and the ensuing scandal that would almost lead to the demise of the show. 


	5. Enter Tracey

Narrator: With the Indigo League and Brock now in the past, Pokemon needed something new. The Orange League was the next destination for our heroes, and with it, a new cast member: Tracey Sketchit.  
  
Tracey: I was so glad they chose me for this part. I felt like there was nothing in this world that could stop me.  
  
Narrator: But Tracey was wrong. There was something that could stop him: himself. Halfway through the Orange Island episodes, a shocking discovery was made. Misty was cheating on Ash with Tracey.  
  
Ash: I wanted to kill that little *beep*ing son of a *beep*ing *beep*!  
  
Tracey: It was bad enough all the fans of the show hated me, now Ash did too!  
  
Narrator: Luckily, Ash forgave Misty and they got back together, but the bad blood between himself and Tracey lingered. On screen, they put their differences aside, but off screen, the smallest tiff could set them off.  
  
Tracey: There was this one time, it was Ash's birthday, and the whole cast was celebrating, and I saw this cupcake. So I ate it. Ash got really upset, and he attacked me with a knife!  
  
Ash: That was my cupcake! It was the last one, and it was my birthday, so that *beep* had no right to it!  
  
Narrator: Things had gotten so bad for Tracey that he decided to leave as well. But this came at a very bad time, as the Orange Island saga left viewers very angry, and ratings dropped.  
  
Samuel Oak: We needed something new. So we came up with the idea for Johto. We made up all these new Pokemon, and stuck other existing Pokemon in their costumes to play their roles. A few of the new Pokemon like Togepi, Lugia, Ho-oh, Slowking, Marill, etc. do exist, but the rest were all made up. Only one thing was missing: Brock.  
  
Narrator: The producers realized the only they were going to get viewers back was to bring back their hero. They went to Las Vegas to try and persuade Brock to return, but Brock refused.  
  
Brock: I still have my dignity. *Brock sees a pretty girl walk by* Brock: Miss, will you go out with me?!  
  
Narrator: But the producers did manage to swing a deal with Brock by promising to give him a date with Joy and Jenny in the show eventually. With everything back in place, Pokemon was back to its old self. And sure enough, Pokemon will continue to be quality show for years to come....or at least until the show becomes unprofitable. 


End file.
